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No, I’m still not able to craft, but I thought I would let you know that I haven’t forgotten about you all.

In case you hadn’t heard, I have been unable to use my hands for much of anything since Dec. 4 of last year. I have lost my fine motor skills and, some days, any skills. There are days when I can do the dishes with little to no pain, but also days when I need help showering and getting dressed.

Obviously, I can no longer teach or make videos, but I also gave up driving in February because gripping the steering wheel was painful and one shouldn’t be in control of something that could kill people when they aren’t sure if they can control it. At the same time, I resigned from what was left of my job at Joann. (I had already scaled back.)

I still do the weekly newsletter and some blog posts for Mosaic Moments — they give them too me far enough in advance that I can do them when I feel up to it, since some days I can’t type at all. I am so thankful for their support and encouragement and understanding through all of this.

So, what does an unemployed person unable to cook, clean or do any of their hobbies do all day? Well, my sister took me to the mall one day, so I made her get our photos taken with the Easter Bunny.

I’ve had a couple opportunities to do a bit of photography — mostly with my phone since I don’t always have the strength to hold up my camera.

And, I play with these babies a lot … from the left, that’s Whiskey, Irish and Bourbon. Irish had a green spot on her when we got her and, well, in my crazed state, that’s what I named them. To each his own, right?!

Matt has helped me immensely — washing my hair, tying my shoes, and cutting up my food, in addition to taking over all of the cooking, cleaning, laundry, and taking care of the animals. He’s also made some modifications around the house to make some things easier to do. Yep, he still calls himself Minion Bob.

I’m still not sure what caused all of this, if there is a treatment, or if I will ever get better. It came on suddenly, spread and then stopped. The pain and swelling is intermittent, but seems to be triggered by use of my fingers or gripping anything. Pain can be sharp, burning, shocking, aching or squeezing and can be in the fingers, hands, wrists, elbows or right shoulder. My muscles give out after a few minutes and then tremors set in. It’s worse on the right side, but both hands are affected.

I’ve been to a handful of specialists, including one at the Cleveland Clinic, who all say the same thing … it’s not my area. I can’t help you. Here’s a new drug to try. Go see so and so.

I can tell you it’s not arthritis, MS, lyme disease, or any other auto-immune disease. I can tell you they did find a case of carpal tunnel so minor, it’s not viable for surgery and isn’t causing any of these problems. They also found a genetic heart condition that will need fixing 20 years from now, but isn’t causing any issues at the moment.

I’ve tried physical therapy, wore two different wrist braces, had a steroid injection, a dose of oral steroids, and had two different wrist compressions, with little to no help.

And, we’ve been trying all different sorts of medicines to try to find some relief — at least of the pain. So far, the only thing that really helps is rest. If I sit with my arms up on the arms of my sofa or propped up with pillows, I am completely pain free. Of course, that only allows me to watch tv, so it quickly gets boring!

I see another specialist at the end of April and am getting a second MRI — this one of the neck. Hopefully one of these will have an answer. The EMG saw no issues with nerve compression from the neck, but the doctor at Cleveland Clinic said this could be misleading, so I guess there is hope. Something has to give since I’ve gained 20 pounds since January!

Personally, I am no longer looking to the future. I’m just living each day as it is … taking one day at a time and doing whatever I can. I’m on another dose of steroids due to an allergic reaction to one of the meds. Thanks to their help, I’ve typed more today than I have in the past month — with very little pain. And I feel like the Energizer Bunny with sore wrists and elbows. So, I’m off to attempt to do the dishes …

Keep me in your thoughts and drop me a line here, via email or on Facebook to show me what you’re creating, the new techniques you’re learning and fun you’re having. Happy Crafting!

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My poor blog has been so neglected this month … between the holidays, being sick and working on classes and other projects, I am just so behind. That, however, is the story of my life … I feel like I am always a day late and a dollar short!

I have several posts that I’m behind on, so I’ll try to get those caught up in the next few days.

The first is one I am so excited to share!

Did you know you can cut felt with most of your thin, metal dies? You can!! In this video, I show you how to turn a border die into fabulous felt mittens! Thanks for watching (and reading)!

I have been on Pinterest quite a bit lately. One of the things that keeps popping up is lace and vintage neutral fabrics made into books, banners and mixed-media art.

I wanted to play with this style myself, but not wanting to get out the sewing machine, I thought I would try it with canvas.

I started by adhering pieces of cheesecloth, eyelet and lace to the canvas with Prima’s Heavy Body Gel. This is a great medium for adhering heavy and difficult-to-adhere items. I put on a layer of the gel, then the lace, and then another layer of the gel. It worked well, except I noticed it can easily build up inside the pieces of lace. I also didn’t like the sort of plastic look it gave when dry — even though I did not get the glossy, it still has too much shine for me.

I also used a stencil and texture paste to add a bit more texture and design. This didn’t work too well on the bumpy lace, but you would never know if you don’t try.

I wanted to add a little color, so I spritzed it with Dylusions spray. Again, not the best solution, but it did add a bit of color here and there. One problem was that when I went to glue anything on top of it, because it is water soluble, I got a bit of rose ink on my canvas. NOTE: Use permanent or archival product instead!

Next I used Archival Ink and an ink applicator to color the lace. I added a photo of my husband’s grandmother (a favorite of mine) and then I went to work adhering flowers, gems and other embellishments.

I used chipboard letters and the same Archival Ink to create the title …

Many of the objects I added were leftovers from other projects or the last one of something I have been carrying around for years. The buttons sewed onto tulle was something new I purchased at the Great Lakes Mega Meet. The key is also new from Tim Holtz. The fragment (square clock face) had been made years ago for another project and was never used. I finally put it to good use!

The metal stars and flowers are new from Prima. The bird charm I made by trimming a piece of art from Craft Fantastic to fit an old bezel I had from Hobby Lobby. I then coated the entire thing with a layer of Globecraft UV Resin (which I haven’t used in years. Globecraft is now part of Sweet Stamps.) and let it sit in the sun for a few minutes to cure. I forgot how much fun that stuff was!

I love how my canvas turned out, although I do need to find a different medium to adhere the lace next time. Have you tried any of these techniques?

A few years ago we were looking online for handmade gift ideas and thought it would be great if there was a resource dedicated JUST to handmade gift ideas. Enter the Handmade Holidays hop!

We’ve gathered over 100 of our creative blogger friends in the craft industry as well as some of our fellow product manufacturers to bring you a plethora of inspiring gift ideas you can make now to give to your friends, family, and colleagues.

Pin and bookmark these ideas for this holiday season and to use throughout the year! Each day of the hop features approximately 30 gift projects and you can “hop” from one blog to another to check them all out.

For my project, I decided to alter a window with travel photos as a gift to my parents. This is a long post and there are a lot of steps, but do not let that frighten you. It is deceptively easy to create a photo window.

This is what the window looked like when I started … it came out of a barn that was being demolished. After a good hose down with a little bleach, my husband added a piece of wood and hardware cloth to fill in the two missing panes and it was ready to transform.

I applied layers of acrylic paint, some watered down a bit, until I liked the patina. I used white, deep brown and a bright blue. I also left a bit of the red paint that was on the window and some of the chipped paint and wood visible in my layers.

My dad is not into rustic and I was worried he would think the window was dirty, so I painted the sides and back with white gesso to keep it nice and clean. (My cat likes to help with all of my projects — mostly as a supervisor.)

I covered the wood with paper from Graphic 45’s Come Away With Me collection. I also added a bit of embossing paste through a stencil in the corners. At first, the paste was too white, so I took a bit of permanent ink (by dabbing a dauber into the ink pad) and went over it lightly to deepen the color.

I cut out elements from other papers in the collection, inked the edges and adhered them to the frame. I also added a tiny nail at each side and in the top left corner of the frame to hang things on.

For the next pane, I adhered a couple of photos to a piece of paper, cut slightly larger than the glass. I used packing tape to attach it to the back of the window.

Here it is from the front side …

I used clips to attach photos to the hardware cloth. This way, they can easily be changed out as often as desired.

The banner was cut out of Graphic 45 papers with Elizabeth Craft Designs Tags & More 2 — Deco.

I decided to put the tags upside down to create a banner. I added cork squares (with rounded corners) and circles cut out of the maps on the paper. Then, I cut out letters with Sizzix/Tim Holtz die Wordplay. I punched holes in each tag and ran fibers through to connect them. I tied them to little nails I put in the edges of the frame.

To add a bit of dimension to the top frame, I used the Sizzix/Tim Holtz Ticket die to cut out tickets out of Graphic 45 paper and then stamped them with a coordinating Tim Holtz stamp.

I used Scrapbook Adhesives 3D Foam Squares to adhere some of the tickets so they stand out better.

I also cut out arrows and cars out of these Sizzix/Tim Holtz dies. This type of die allows the images to be cut out of paper and chipboard. I adhered the papers to the chipboard for a little more dimension.

In this pane, I adhered photos and elements directly to the glass. I used Scrapbook Adhesives 3D Foam Squares to add a bit of dimension to some of the elements.

I used the Mini Filmstrip/Ticket die from Sizzix/Tim Holtz to create a filmstrip border. Then I cut out small images from the Graphic 45 paper and used the Sakura Quickie Glue to adhere them. (DISCLOSURE: I did receive products from Sakura to use and promote on this project).

I added the filmstrip border, car, compass stamp and buttons to the front of the glass, so photos can still be changed on the backside without bothering these elements.

I added additional elements cut from paper and chipboard, along with more vintage buttons to this frame.

I wanted to make items to dangle on the frame’s left side. I used Sakura’s Glaze Pens to color an acrylic tag.

I coated another tag with clear, liquid adhesive and adhered it to paper. I added rub ons to the blue tag. Then, I used the black Glaze pen to create dimensional dots on the acrylic. Once the glue dried, I trimmed the tag with the paper on it.

Then I added some jump rings, fibers and pearls to create a little tag for the side of the frame.

For a final touch, I used Sakura Gellyroll Moonlight 06 pens to make a little tag to hang on the frame. These pens show up brilliantly on black cardstock.

And, one last look at the completed frame … I already presented it to my parents and they loved it!

Are you ready for lots more creative handmade gift ideas and projects??

Follow along on our blog hop! Simply click on each of the links below to be taken to that post with additional information and photos on how to create a handmade gift project. Have fun and pin away!

Despite the cold and 2-feet of snow stacked outside my front door, I thought it was time for a little summer. I’ve been hooked on blue and green lately, so I created this thank you card.

I started with an orange Shimmer Sheetz. I ran it through an embossing folder and then lightly sanded the color off of the top of it.

I added a strip of paper from Bo Bunny.

Next, I added glitter to Elizabeth Crafts Designs butterfly, flowers and leaves stickers. To see a video on how easy this technique is, click here. I love Elizabeth Crafts Design Glitter because you can color on it with your Copic, Tombow or Distress Ink markers. This is the ONLY glitter I know of that is safe for your markers.

Here are the colors I used …

After coloring, I used a craft knife to carefully cut out each piece and adhere it to the card.

I used dimensional foam to adhere the flowers and butterflies to the card.

Then, I added a bit of ribbon and cut out the word “Thank You” from an Elizabeth Craft Die.

I was merely waiting for something to decorate to copy her technique. And, when my mom gave me an embroidered doily with chickens on it, I knew it was the perfect thing to frame.

Naturally, I put my own spin on it and went through a little trial and error, but eventually my project came out looking like this:

I started with a plain black shadow box I got on sale at Michaels.

I coated the entire box with white gesso.

Then, I used Wendy Vecchi’s white embossing paste and a stencil from Christy Tomlinson Designs to cover the entire frame and provide some texture.

This is where my project took a turn …

I wanted to see what would happen if I used Piccolo 3D Enamel Gels to help provide some background color. I started with Dark Green.

And then added Clementine.

Then I glued on a bunch of random flowers, metal pieces, ribbon, keys, buttons and more to the front of the box and coated everything with gesso. This covered up all of the odd colors … my flowers were navy, hot pink, gray and peach! I kept the gesso light on the sides so the colors would show through.

Next I added a bit of Bright Yellow …

And some more green and orange … I taped off the glass front (it couldn’t be removed from the frame) and sprayed it with blue Glimmer Mist. It came out darker than I wanted, but it looked OK. (I don’t have any photos of that stage because it was a bit of a disaster).

Needless to say, Glimmer Mist does not dry on top of 3D Enamel Gel. Ever.

I tried heating.

I tried sitting it in the sun.

After a week, I was still getting blue on my hands every time I picked up the piece. I really didn’t want to start over since I had quite a bit of time and money invested in this, but I knew I couldn’t hang it on the wall as it was.

Deciding I couldn’t hurt it anymore than I already had, I ran it under the faucet. The water washed most of the Glimmer Mist off — at least the parts that refused to dry.

And I ended up with this:

The perfect box to showcase the doily my mom gave me!

Here are a few close-ups …

The flowers took on the look of molded plastic. Very cool when you think of it …,

The front is pretty, but the sides are amazing … I love the patina I got.

Thanks Arlene for the inspiration! I still plan to follow your instructions to do another one that more closely resembles yours!